John Vincent Kenny (April 6, 1893 – June 2, 1975) was mayor of
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Frank Hague, he broke with his mentor after Hague engineered the appointment of his nephew,
Frank Hague Eggers
Frank Hague Eggers (February 22, 1901 – July 8, 1954) was an American attorney, jurist, and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who served as the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from 1947 to 1949. Eggers was appo ...
, in 1947. Kenny put together a commission ticket that broke Hague's 32-year rule. Although he only served as mayor until 1953, he remained the real power in Jersey City and Hudson County for three decades.Grundy, J. Owen Before 1949: Thirty Years War on Hagueism Get NJ, 2003. Known as the "Little Guy," Kenny put together a machine that grew as corrupt as Hague's machine, though nowhere as efficient in providing city and county services.
His rule was only broken in 1971, when he was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and convicted, along with the then-mayor Thomas J. Whelan and former City Council president Thomas Flaherty, in federal court of conspiracy and extortion in a multimillion-dollar political kickback scheme on city and county contracts.
Kenny suffered a heart attack and died on June 2, 1975, in Jersey City. He was buried in
Holy Name Cemetery
Holy Name Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery in Jersey City, New Jersey administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. It was established in 1866 and at the end of calendar year 2002 has accepted 264,984 burials. The cemetery parcel i ...